Where settling a debt has "value" is around mortgages. It shows that even though the damage was done, you did something to make it right. When underwriters get into the nuances of your credit, they will ask about this.
On a related matter, credit "repair" agencies work very simply, and in a few ways, one being the stress relief of redirecting calls to them rather than you.
But how do they actually "repair" your credit?
Every derogatory item, accurate or not, they dispute, hoping the merchant won't respond or follow process. If they do? They dispute it again. And again. Hoping to catch them out.
I had a credit card debt of about $700 after a failed startup that, when I called TD, I was unable to pay. It was “written off.” The debt was from 2015 and I was purchasing a home in the spring of 2023 and despite the balance having been written off 8 years ago, USAA demanded it be settled. So I spent 12+ hours in a Kafkaesque circle of hell trying to find someone to TAKE MY MONEY! Even the agents at TD found it sad-funny how desperate I was to pay and yet they seemingly had no system in place for me to pay off the debt I did owe them at some level. Ultimately, I got escalated so someone high enough up with enough tenure to find the right system to pay and a fax(!) was sent to USAA to settle that underwriting line item.
Interestingly, USAA also managed to find that I had a $25 Comcast bill from something like 11 years ago, likely having missed a final bill on move out of some apartment. This wasn’t reported on my credit report, ever. Somehow they managed to find it and I needed to pay.
I would love to know now about the underwriting process and how they find non-reported debts like my Comcast bill.
I understand you probably get extra benefits with USAA but this would be an automatic disqualification for me and I’d move kn to a different servicer. However, that is _painful_ in the middle of a closing.
Our mortgage was immediately sold to another firm, so there’s no nicety on the part of having a consistent firm there. The process was painful, our processor was impossible to get in touch with, often a 48 hour lag for a reply.
Shortly before moving I was side-swiped by a man suffering a medical incident (diabetic coma after a blood draw) while at a red light. Our premium increased due to “driver history” a month later.
I’ve previously worked directly with USAA staff for due diligence when selling software / services to their firm and they are absolutely on the ball on that front. However, their actual software as an end-user is a hassle, e.g. password rules and UX that look about 25 years old at this point and suggest some languishing old mainframe.
Sweet, sweet inertia…
In most other states insurers will increase your rate even if you are not at fault and you only made a claim with the at fault party or your insurer is successful subrogating
I’m in the Midwest and I pull quotes every 3 years, and Costco has always been a few hundred cheaper than the other cats with the same or better coverage.
Banking should be a credit union unless you require some weird need from USAA.
To be honest, I never bought into the USAA hype, their marketing is strong but their “benefits” aren’t anything more than what’s found at competing banks. Credit unions provide better services and benefits to their customers anyhow.
It’s almost as if it was a natural law or something…
Look into Ally Loans. Same deal, you’ll be packaged and sold out within the week, but they have a very, very nice online system for the loan process.
I've noticed sometimes some "weird" debts only show up on TransUnion and only TransUnion. If you're "checking your credit" with Equifax or Experian you won't see them. There is also "other" credit reports like Chexsystems.
This suggests you can only get records removed if they’re incorrect — is that what you meant?
So, in my case. When I was a teenager I opened a second bank account with credit card. In only used the card once for something small and forgot about it. Throughout the years the cost of this card started to built up, messages to pay back where not received because I already had a different address and phone number.
Years later this resulted in a negative BKR registration for me. I explained the situation to the bank (that could technically let the registration be removed) but they refused. Later I had a lawyer order them to remove the registration, on grounds that me forgetting about a credit card when I was young was no reason to believe I wouldn't be paying my mortgage. The registration was therefor not in "pursuit of a legitimate interest". The bank honored this.